Hope all of you are well and not nearly drowning in the last minute pre-Christmas rush, as I seem to be. Of course, of all the weeks I would have loved an extra day off work to finish up with gift wrapping, baking, and any last minute shopping....this was the one week our patient census is up and I had to work Tuesday. At least I still have the day off tomorrow and hope to finish up with any last minute tasks. My father-in-law was admitted to the ER last night with a high fever and a diagnosis of bronchitis and a touch of pneumonia. They sent him home after receiving IV fluids and IV antibiotics, and he followed up with his regular physician today. Between him not feeling well, and waiting to see when/if our daughter's basketball team might play Friday night in their tournament....we're still not sure when we'll head up to my in-laws to celebrate Christmas with them. It's rather frustrating having everything so up in the air, and having to pack clothes, get the gifts together, and load the car for a trip that we may not even take. Proud Momma Moment....my daughter's team won their first game in the tournament and lost the second game; but I love the fact that these thoughtful girls decided on their own to wear green headbands during the games to honor the victims and families associated with Sandy Hook Elementary School, as apparently green is one of their school colors.

Lynne~ I know you're probably not able to read this, but hope you and the family have a wonderful time at the Sunshine Coast, and that Little Man feels better. I'm sure Harry is having a blast, as well.

Songbird~ My, you did have a crazy weekend, didn't you? I'm so sorry your little boy's toe is fractured and hope he's not hurting too much. Kids are so resilient....I'm sure he'll be getting around like a champ in no time. I also hope you're able to get some rest and that you're not coming down with something. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe for orange poppyseed bread/cake. It looks like something that would make yummy and pretty gifts for teachers or hostesses. I assume that vanilla and almond flavorings are similar to extracts? What about "butter flavoring"?

Jaclyn~ It seems like your various workplaces have always known how to party it up and make the most of the holiday season. I think your Italian Christmas dinner idea sounds delicious, and love the fact that you and your hubs are embarking on this culinary journey every year for the holidays, with your parents. Thanks so much for the sweet card. What a nice treat to receive, and my husband even commented and thought it was cool to receive international mail. Congrats on finishing your shopping! I think I'm finished as well, but need to review the items I've purchased for the kids' stockings to be certain I'm not missing anything.

Austin~ Enjoy your two week vacation. I love poinsettias too, but never managed to purchase any this year. I laughed at your "brutally cold--70 degree" weather comment...assuming you were being sarcastic. Will you and your wife travel to visit family or friends over the holidays?

Marielle~ Sorry you had such a run of bad luck today, and hope your bf's knee feels better as you'll need him in top form to help with moving and unpacking. I hate removing wallpaper and am very impressed that you managed to get rid of it in one day. Good luck with the painting!

Amanda Beth~ I'm sure you were stunned to find out you had once known one of the victims' fathers from the Connecticut tragedy--it really is a small world. It's perfectly natural that you'll miss the guy you've been recently dating. Will you text or e-mail or call or communicate in one form or another while he's gone?

Susie~ I'm sorry you weren't able to pick out your Christmas tree yet, but am sure you'll manage to find one soon. I think we will keep ours up through New Years, as you suggested, since we bought it so late this year. I hope Sonny Boy's exams went well and am sure he's ready for some of Mom's home cooking and laundry services. Did you enjoy Breaking Dawn 2 just as much as previous viewings, and is your total number anywhere close to Caryn? Good luck with the meeting tomorrow, and enjoy being Toast Master. I know things will run perfectly with you in charge.

I had kinda a productive day. I didn't really do a lot after I woke up, but I did get done a lot last night and this morning, including finishing chapter 2 of my story. Now, I can plan on getting chapter 3 up and running.

I probably won't work on it tonight, though, because I have work early tomorrow morning, 9:30 to 1:30. So I won't be staying up much longer.

My area is under a high wind advisory tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night and Friday is under a winter weather advisory. Welcome to Dec. I guess. Anyone in the area of this storm (Caryn, Sandy, Jennifer, Christina and maybe Tracy) be careful with the wind and snow. I know that I'll have to go out in this stuff to get to and from work on Friday.

My science fact for tonight: If you put an ice cube that has a big air bubble in it into some hot, like say, coffee, be careful--the ice cube will explode! A big chunk of an ice cube got launched out of a cup of coffee that I was making earlier. Just beware of flying ice chunks.

I don't have too much more to say. I've already had dinner, and I can't think of much else to do tonight aside from get to bed soon. I hope that everyone stays safe during this storm.

I will get on and do a proper response to all posts but for now I just have time for a flyby since I have a dr appt (everything is fine it's just a discussion about my allergies) and have one small errand to run before coming back here and trying to get my house organized before Jason's head explodes.

I don't really have much to post right now. It's raining, and that rain will turn to snow and ice, and things not so nice. I know that some of you are in the path of the storm, but my situation sucks because I live out in the country, which means bad roads when the ice and snow happens. Hence my brother and I might take the highways into work until we get into town.

I also get paid tomorrow, and I've been spending a lot of time reading up on the DH Mosquito that was rebuilt and is now flying in New Zealand before it gets sent to it's owner's museum in airworthy condition next year.

I probably won't be online much tonight--my brother wants to use my laptop and I kinda wanna rest up and read. I have to be off of here by 8:00, but I'll be back online later tonight for a while.

I also had an exhausting day at work--I don't know which is more tiresome, having a lot to get done quickly, or the wait to find something to do once all of that's done. Again, maybe I need to pace myself at work, but it's hard since I also have to man the phone, too.

Amanda: It'll be winter for damn sure where I'm at by morning! 1-2 inches of snow tonight, 1-2 more tomorrow during the day, as well as ice on the roads from the rain today. In town everything will be fine more than likely, but out where I live, I'm not expecting good things, which is why I've asked my brother if it's a good idea to use the highways near where I live to get to town tomorrow. I hope that the weather won't get as bad as it's supposed to be here, or worse, as is happening in some other areas here in the Midwest.

Everyone: Fallen One is supposed to have a new band photo out soon, and my friend Lia (who is the lead singer, songwriter and pianist for Fallen One) will also have a new You Tube song cover on her You Tube channel soon, too. I hope that everyone in the storm's path is doing OK. I'll be back later

I for some reason can't remember much that I read, but I wanted to say hi.

Oh, and Tracy, yes, those are all Extracts. The butter flavoring should be there in the baking aisle just like the vanilla and almond...I think my mom always got McCormic brand, and Walmart also had Wilton brand in the craft section with cake decorating stuff, possibly Target, too. I can't get Butter flavoring here, so I have to get it in the states when I am there and I bought Walmart out last time, and went to a cooking store to get more because I could only get 2 small bottles at Walmart...but I think you should be able to get it at pretty much any grocery store in the US.

just dropping in for a moment... I'm a bit out of posting log versions right now...tonight I'm spending my time on the sofa... I am so tired after 3 days of painting and fighting with wall paper.Tomorrow morning I'm hoping to finish painting the living room and start on the bedrooms.. in the evening I have a bday party and Sunday is a day of doing nothing...

I haven't figured out how to post pics of my new home here yet, maybe some of you can explain that to me????

Any news in Rob-world????????

Sean, how did the storm affect you? did you have any trouble... it's been a while since we had a proper storm here...

Tracy, I am completely oblivious to Christmas at the moment...I don't even notice people doing shopping...I hope your FiL will be okay soon. it will be a shame if it makes his christmas bad.My bf's knee is feeling better but I can still see him limp a bit at times. My eye is finally getting better... I hope I had my share of bad luck.

Does anyone know where Caryn is??? I hope she isn't stuck in the turkey......

Susie, what color do you want your bedroom painted? We have bought red and blue... you US ladies must feel at home with that... (I wish I had a front porch like those classic US houses...)... How are your christmas dinners coming? Have fun with your family...

To all my HH brother and sisters... I'm hoping you all have a splendid time preparing for christmas... I'll be dropping in here as often as I can...I am thinking of you all....

These violent delights, have violent endings...Like fire and gunpowder, they consume what they kiss

I don't have too much to write about now. Today was my last day of work this week, and I won't be going back until the 26th, which means that I have the next four days off. That means fan fic, reading, VGs and, hopefully, getting my iPod to work, since I have never used it since I bought it--it's still new in box.

I did get paid today, but my check was nothing to write home about, it being only $117, which I expected it to be about that since I missed work back when my grandma died. At least my brother and I found a new way to work that might be pretty good, or at least if we can find a way to there that goes beyond the exit we got off at so I could pick up and cash my check in my way into work.

And I'm glad that no one's freaking out about us still being here after the apocalypse was supposed to happen. But people who have tried to predict the end of the world have had lousy track records. Harold Camping said that the world was supposed to end like 5 times between 1993 and 2011. And I also like how some have tried to say that Nostradamus tried to claim that the world was supposed to end on 12/21/12, when his actual date given was July of 1999! Coincidences also happen--a chapter of the manga Bio-Booster Armor Guyver that was released in 1999 depicted an event similar to the TWC attacks of 9/11 nearly two years before the 9/11 attacks happened. I don't believe that Yoshiki Takaya is a psychic.

I hope that I haven't offended anyone, but we're all still here right now, and I don't think that the world will end very soon. And that's just as well, because with my fan fic writing, it'll most likely take me forever before I get all of my projects done and published.

Marielle: I got into work just fine, but things were worse on my way home. Though, as I said, we may've found a better way to work at least.

About movies...: I was talking with Jaclyn earlier, and I feel that I have to say this about me--I may be a WWII history fan, but, considering that I'm a fan of the Twilight film, I'll take a Twilight film over any action film any day. Not even my Twilight/Guyver fan fic will have a crap load of action in it--and most of the violence will be comical in nature--more Three Stooges than Saving Private Ryan, which the latter is one of the few recent WWII films that I've liked, though it's nearly 15 years old, with Tea with Mussolini as my favorite.

But I just felt that I should say that, for the most part, I'd take a vampire romance film or novel over most modern action/war film on any given day.

Assorted stuff, including tonight's plans: OK, maybe my last post for a while here--though I expect to be back later tonight to get started on chapter 3 of my fan fic. Just a few things I want to say that, I at least, think are kinda fun little things that I want to say.

First, if you want a good new exercise to add to your routine, try splitting wood with an ax, the old fashioned way. Actually sort of fun when you can get the log chunks to break apart with a few good whacks.

Speaking of wood, there's just something that appeals to me about WWII aircraft, mostly British stuff. The Rolls-Royce Merlin engine is perhaps the greatest aircraft piston engine of all time for military use due to it's versatility and, especially after Packard started to make them during WWII, ease of production (Packard introduced minor changes that allowed for RR in the UK to ramp up their on production for the later Merlin and it's enlarged Griffon derivative). The Packard V-1650 Merlin and the P-51 Mustang created perhaps the best fighter fielded by anyone during WWII, but that was an American plane fitted with a British designed engine.

As far as through and through British aircraft, there was the Hawker Tempest, which looked like an absolute brute of an aircraft in profile, but was fitted with thin elliptical wings that broadly made it look like a large Spitfire when viewed from above and below, and gave the Tempest considerable agility and speed, along with it's 24 cylinder Napier Sabre engine.

And then there was the de Havilland Mosquito, which was perhaps the most versatile aircraft of WWII--recon plane, unarmed high speed bomber, day and night fighter and attack aircraft. It was also one of the few twin engined fighters that could hold it's own in a dogfight with smaller single seaters. Not to mention that it was made out of wood--this made it cheap, simple, easy to produce and repair, cut down on the need for aluminum and steel, and made subcontracting work very easy to find and utilize. The Mosquito also was the genesis for the DH Hornet single seat twin engined fighter, and even the DH Vampire and Venom jet fighters--two of the best jet early generation jet fighters--were made partly of wood (front fuselages used the same construction principals that the Mosquito and Hornet used throughout their structures).

As far as things that I'm up to, later on tonight, after I watch Ancient Aliens on the History Channel--and, no, I'm not a believer, guess I should also say that about the Guyver manga and anime stuff--I might start on Chapter three of my fan fic, where my OC Melinda gets two guests, one which she would love to spend hours with, the other...not so much.